How to Win Your Duels in Red Dead Redemption

Sometimes people just won't listen to reason. Bright Hub shows you how to duel, for those times when the gun is the only answer.

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Throughout your explorations of Red Dead Redemption's detailed western world, you'll encounter a bunch of no-marks, desperadoes and master gunmen who are determined to take John Marston on one-on-one. With this Red Dead Redemption duel tutorial, you'll be certain to be the last man standing whenever any foolish bandit challenges your gunman's honor.

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Red Dead Redemption: How to Duel

As you wander the desolate roads and towns of New Austin, NPCs will occasionally call you out for a duel. You'll hear a short snippet of dialogue impugning your honor or manhood in some form, and the character will show up as a blue circle on your mini-map. Go up to the NPC to initiate the duel. The game will then switch perspective to behind you as you face your duelling opponent.

The Duelling Process

Wait till the word "Draw" appears onscreen before drawing, as you will get a bonus to your accuracy. Drawing early appears to affect your aim, and you will lose honor if you do win the duel.

Push the Right Analogue Stick down then up or press Left Trigger to draw your weapon.

Watch the blue (yours) and red (your opponent's bars) on the side of the screen. When duelling you are essentially trying to fill up your meter faster than your enemy can fill his.

Use the Right stick to choose your desired targets on your enemy and Right Trigger to select them.

Winning a duel in Red Dead Redemption is all in the timing. Watch your crosshair as it passes over an opponent. It will flicker from red to white.

Red is a poor shot and will not add much to your duelling meter. White represents great shots which will give a boost to the your bar.

Select the shots you want to make, being careful to only press Right trigger when the cross hair is white.

If your blue duelling meter exceeds their red meter bar, you will win the duel when the Dead Eye moment runs out and the shots start flying. You may only need one shot to win if it is a perfectly timed and placed shot that fills up a massive chunk of your duelling bar.

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Red Dead Redemption Duelling Tips

Duelling in Red Dead Redemption is a great way to boost your fame and honor stats. Disarming your opponent rather than killing them will earn you 200 Honor points and 100 Fame points. To disarm your enemy target their gun-holding hand. Often this location will provide a big boost to your blue duelling meter, helping to ensure you win the round. Sometimes being merciful has its benefits.

Duels can be provoked by cheating at poker, meaning that you can intentionally build up your fame and honor pretty rapidly. Once you have the Elegant Suit in your possession (This can be got from the tailor at Thieves Landing) which enables you to cheat at poker, enter some games and deliberately let your fellow players discover your cheating ways. This will result in an instant duel. Simply repeat this process to rapidly build your fame and honor statistics. Be sure to keep your bets low in the games, though, otherwise you'll be throwing money away.

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Conclusion

How to duel in Red Dead Redemption can appear a bit mystifying at first, as there isn't a lot of feedback on where you went wrong when you lose. However, if you make sure you follow this Red Dead Redemption duel tutorial each time you are challenged, duelling in the game can lead to a plentiful supply of Honor and Fame, and spread the word of your gun-slinging prowess far and wide in the territory of New Austin and beyond. For more tips and tricks for Rockstar Games' epic western, be sure to check out our ultimate Red Dead Redemption guide.